


Stargazing

by sapphicscullyy



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23510977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicscullyy/pseuds/sapphicscullyy
Summary: Mulder takes Scully stargazing in the middle of the night while they're working on a stressful case. Inspired by the conversation Scully has with Skinner in This Is Not Happening (s08e14).
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	Stargazing

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first fic! I want to get into writing more so your feedback on this is extremely welcome and wanted. I'm quite nervous about posting this so I really hope you like it!

Scully rolled over restlessly in the comfortless motel bed for what seemed like the hundredth time since she switched off the light. She could hear the faint hum of the television playing in Mulder’s room and wondered if he had fallen asleep yet. He probably hadn’t.

They’d been in this town for the past week, trying to find a missing child. Luka Astley, 6 years old, disappeared whilst playing in the front yard of his parents’ house eleven days ago, his mother sitting by the front window, watching him the whole time. They had yet to find any leads or any place to start looking. These cases always hit hard.

Scully stared up at the mould-covered ceiling, willing herself to fall asleep and escape the nightmare she and Mulder were living in. Her ability to fall asleep seemingly anywhere failed her at the worst moments; only when the solace of dreaming was all she desired. She sighed, attempting to close her eyes once more, it would probably find her in her dreams too.

The adjoining door between her room and Mulder’s let out a soft creak as it opened slightly, the blue glow of the television screen bathing the walls. She felt Mulder hesitate, before slipping partially through the now ajar door. His presence filled her room, washing over her in waves like a drug that both calmed and excited the body.

“Scully,” he called out tentatively into the darkened room, “are you awake?”

There was a small, selfish part of her that wanted to ignore him and return to her futile attempts of sleep, but the other part was curious as to what he could possibly want from her at this late hour, and where it may lead them.

She let out a small groan of affirmation, hoping it conveyed her reluctance to indulge any impractical ideas of his at this late hour.

“Good. Put some clothes on and meet me outside in five minutes,” he said, already stepping back through the doorway. “And bring your coat.”

Scully lurched up onto her elbows, ready to argue against his notion that it was okay to drag her outside in the middle of the night, regardless of if she could sleep or not.

“Mulder, what-” the soft click of the adjoining door cut her protest short. She collapsed back against the pillows and let out a long sigh, silently cursing her unconventional yet beguiling partner, before throwing back the covers and dragging her tired body out of bed. 

* * *

As Scully stepped out of her motel room, she found herself glad that she had elected not to ignore Mulder and brought her coat with her as the cool night breeze curled around her skin. She had thrown on a casual pair of pants and sweater, huffing as she had put her bra back on. She had run her fingers through her pillow-mussed hair and looked at her makeup-free face before sighing again.

She saw Mulder was already waiting for her by the rental car, door open as he threw in what appeared to be a blanket and flashlight. He spun around as he heard her approach and dared to flash a grin at her. She attempted to scowl at him, but she felt her traitorous lips begin to curve into a returning smile. She looked at his feet.

“Mulder, where are going?” She heard the scepticism creep into her voice. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Just trust me,” he almost looked shy, “I promise you that you won’t regret it.”

Scully sighed once more as he opened the car door for her, this time in acquiescence of her fate, a life forever dedicated to following Spooky Mulder, even if he woke her up and dragged her out of her motel room in the middle of the night.

She looked to the back once he climbed in. “Why are you bringing a flashlight?”

“Scully,” he nearly whined her name in objection to her questions, “you’ll see.” He turned the key in the ignition and she tucked her legs underneath before turning her head and staring into the deep night through the car window.

* * *

They drove for about ten minutes, a serene silence stretching comfortably between them until Mulder pulled over along the side of a nondescript stretch of highway bordered by a thick copse of trees.

“Mulder?”  _ What the hell are we doing here? _

He just opened his door and stepped out of the car.

He collected the blanket and flashlight from the back seat before opening her door and offering her his hand. 

“Come on, Scully,” he said pleadingly, “I’ll take you back if you don’t like it.”

She reluctantly took his hand, trying to ignore how his grip seemed to warm her entire body from her fingertips to her core, unable to resist the spell his hazel eyes were casting on her. He grinned at her and she ducked her head as she climbed out of the car, hiding her own smile.

He tugged her towards the treeline, walking along its edge for a few steps before turning onto a barely-there path that could not be seen from five feet away, let alone from the highway if someone was driving past. This raised her curiosity about how Mulder knew exactly where to stop along the highway, she certainly hadn’t seen any definitive markers or landmarks to identify the place.

His hand had never left hers, gently tugging her along, guiding her, not allowing her to stumble in the dark. His other hand held the flashlight, its weak beam illuminating the narrow trail ahead of them, blanket tucked under his arm. Despite not being able to see where she was stepping, or knowing what was coming, Scully felt safe.

It was not long before they reached the end of the trail, and even in the dark, the view that materialised before them as they emerged from the trees made Scully’s breath catch in her throat.

Illuminated in the dim half-moon light, the lake seemed to shimmer and swirl, painting an abstract masterpiece using the reflection of the night sky as its muse. The black water was streaked with the ever changing white spectacle, dancing on every crest of every small wave and ripple on its surface. The sky itself glowed with the light of a million burning stars, more than she had ever seen, seeming to pulse to the rhythm of some unknown melody. Spatters of colour filled the night above her and she stood, mesmerised. 

The trance was only broken when Mulder said her name ever so softly, and she became aware of the absence of his presence by her side. She turned only her head to look at him and saw the blanket he had laid across a small expanse of spongy moss, and him standing beside it, waiting for her. 

“How did you know this place was here?” she asked him quietly after she had settled on the blanket, him taking his place beside her.

She glanced over at him when she received no answer. To her surprise, the starlight showed her a faint blush that had appeared on his cheeks. “One of the officers mentioned it,” his words were barely there, just breath in the wind, preserving the quiet realm of Elysium surrounding them. A perfect island of solitude for two lonely souls. 

Her eyebrow raised itself in preparation, as she opened her mouth to voice her scepticism on how the location of a reclusive and romantic date setting came up in casual conversation. But then she caught herself.  _ Romantic date setting _ . Was that what this was? Was that what she wanted it to be? 

“Do you like it?” His expression was one of fearful hope, and answered both of her questions.  _ Yes. _

She let her eyes trace the features of his face for a moment before she shifted her attention back to the night sky burning above them. “Yes,” she breathed, allowing a small smile to play at the curves of her mouth, “it’s beautiful.”

He hummed in agreeance. “It is.” She pretended to be oblivious to the fact that his gaze had not shifted from her as he said those words. Her skin tingled along the path his eyes followed as he watched her. 

They sat like this for a few minutes, the starlight transfixing her gaze and bewitching her with its beauty. Eventually, he laid back on the blanket, and she joined him, shuffling slightly closer to his warmth as she did so. The moss beneath the blanket cushioned her body, almost more comfortable than the mattress on the bed in her motel room, but there was a sharp rock directly under where her head was resting, and she squirmed around, attempting to find an angle where it wouldn’t dig into her skull.

After a few moments, Mulder tapped her lightly on the shoulder. “Here,” he said softly, indicating for her to lift her head. She sat up slightly, resting on her elbows as he slipped his arm beneath her head. She hid her smile behind an eye-roll, even as she surreptitiously shifted even closer to him as she lay her head back down, now resting gently on his arm. Finally comfortable, and revelling in the proximity of his warm body next to hers, Scully let out a contented sigh.

The muscles in his arm tensed for a moment beneath her head and she felt the warm pressure of his hand on her arm, pulling her even closer. A smile twitched at the corners of her lips.

“Have you ever thought about starlight, Scully? How by the time the light from those stars reaches us, it’s already billions of years old?” His voice ruffled the hair around her ear, causing it to stand on end. Gooseflesh rose on the skin of her neck, taunted by the proximity of his mouth and all the things he could do with it if he only moved just an inch or two closer.

“Most of the stars we can see have died, millions, or even billions, of years ago. But their light goes on, travelling through space and time until it reaches our little planet, and then keeps going further still. Maybe it never stops.” 

He turned his head away from her, gazing up at the objects of his current musings. Her eyes slipped shut and she listened to the steady sound of his voice while slowly relaxing into his arms. 

“I think that up there, amongst the stars, is where souls reside. Where they go when their journey on earth has come to an end. It brings me comfort to hope that, perhaps, all those souls we fail to save, that they find their peace in the blissful void of the cosmos.”

This suggestion sparked a thought in Scully. Though she knew he was thinking mainly of Samantha, or perhaps even Missy, her first thought was of her father. Was his soul up there, adrift in the universe? Could he be looking down on her and Mulder, lying together beneath a blanket of stars? 

Her father had never met Mulder, though from what she had told him of her crackpot new partner, he hadn’t seemed to approve of him. But her mother had told her later, after, that he was just being protective of his daughter in her new job, even if it was not one he would like for her to be doing. Her mother had also said, though it may have been her own biased opinion of Mulder shining through, that Ahab would have liked and respected her partner greatly.

She wondered for a moment if the night sky above them was the one Ahab would have seen when he was out at sea for all those months, where he was so far from any landmass that there would be no glow of city lights on the horizon to pollute his view.

She realised Mulder’s voice had lulled, so she cracked open her eyes to look at him. His gaze caught hers, hazel eyes swimming just inches from her own.

“Sleep, Scully,” he pulled her even closer to him, breath tickling her hair, “I’ve got you.” 

His thumb began lightly tracing invisible patterns on her skin and she felt him press a light kiss to the top of her head. His chest rose and fell with each breath, in sync with the rhythmic wash of the waves lapping at the shore. She closed her eyes once more, nuzzling further into his side and silently inhaling Mulder’s scent as she did so, and allowed the cadence of her surroundings to lull her to sleep.

* * *

She awoke to the shrill alarm clock ringing loudly in her ear. Sitting up in the bed, Scully noticed that she felt quite well-rested, something that seemed impossible while they stayed in this town. Looking down, she discovered that she was dressed in her leggings and t-shirt, and the memories of her night, and presumably the reason she was able to sleep so well, returned to her. 

A smile broke out on her face, and she closed her eyes once more, unwilling to break out of the small spell of happiness that she had found just yet. Her day would be filled with horrors and nightmares that would leave a part of her hollow for weeks, but for just that moment, none of it crowded her mind. Instead, she revelled in the phantom press of his body against her own still tingling on her skin. 


End file.
